“A
former ranch-hand and his younger partner set out to stock their own
ranch from a herd of wild horses that roam the plains, coming
into competition with two neighbours — a young woman
who both men want and who once captured the leader, a handsome black
stallion called Outlaw; and the other a ruthless rancher who
will kill Outlaw if he cannot have him in the enjoyable
Western Black Horse Canyon...”
TIRED OF WORKING FOR OTHER PEOPLE, ranch hand Del "Rock" Rockwell
(Joel McCrea: Foreign Correspondent; Cattle Drive) settles on his own ranch
with young Ti (Race Gentry), whom he found working in a saloon as a young boy
and took on as his partner, and they begin looking for stock from the band of
wild horses that roam the plains.
Free to anyone who can capture
and tame them, the herd is led by a fabulous black stallion and Rock and Ti have
him firmly in their sights; but Outlaw is also being tracked by two other local
ranch owners — Aldis Spain (Mari Blanchard: McLintock), who
used to own Outlaw, and ruthless Harry Jennings (Murvyn Vye: Road To Bali),
who accuses Rock of stealing his horses that have mysteriously found their way
out of his corral.
“An
enjoyable Western, Black Horse Canyon gallops along at a fine pace
with real-life cowboy Joel McCrea in the saddle presiding over the
gunplay and attractive Mari Blanchard providing the love interest...”
Aldis
lives with her uncle, "Doc" (Irving Bacon), and young Mexican girl Juanita (the
enchanting Pilar del Rey). Although at first Aldis is antagonistic towards Rock
and Ti, she sympathises with Ti and befriends him.
He mistakenly believes
that Aldis wants more from him than just friendship and when Rock realises that
he is also in love with Aldis and gets close to her, his relationship with Ti
falls apart and the younger man walks away from their partnership.
Coming
up against Jennings, Rock is dismayed that the other rancher will kill the stallion
if he cannot capture him and Aldis and Rock manage to track Outlaw to Echo Canyon
— The Canyon of A Thousand Horses. But will they be able to get the
stallion safely away before Jennings and his men find them? And will Ti return
to the ranch to help to tame the stallion?
An enjoyable Western, Black
Horse Canyon gallops along at a fine pace with real-life cowboy Joel McCrea
in the saddle presiding over the gunplay and attractive Mari Blanchard providing
the love interest.
Black Horse Canyon also features: John Pickard
as Duke; and Ewing Mitchell as Sheriff.
Musical Direction by Joseph
Gershenson; Costumes by Bill Thomas; Director of Photography is George Robinson;
Screenplay by Geoffrey Homes; Adaptation by David Lang; Based on the novel
The Wild Horse by Les Savage Jr; Produced by John W Rogers; and Directed by
Jesse Hibbs.
*Black
Horse Canyon is released on DVD in the UK, courtesy of Simply Media, on 16
May 2016. Certificate: U | Year: 1954 | Running Time: 78 Minutes | Catalogue Number:
164451 | RRP: £12.99.
"An enjoyable Western, Black Horse Canyon
gallops along at a fine pace with real-life cowboy Joel McCrea in the saddle presiding
over the gunplay and attractive Mari Blanchard providing the love interest" ~
Maggie Woods
“A
former ranch-hand and his younger